The Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches comprise a modular data center-class product line designed for highly scalable 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks with a fabric architecture that scales beyond 15 terabits per second (Tbps). Designed to meet the requirements of the most mission-critical data centers, it delivers continuous system operation and virtualized pervasive services. The Cisco Nexus 7000 Series is based on the proven Cisco NX-OS Software operating system, with enhanced features to deliver real-time system upgrades with exceptional manageability and serviceability. Its innovative design is purpose built to support end-to-end data center connectivity, consolidating IP, storage, and interprocess communication (IPC) networks onto a single Ethernet fabric.

Figure 1. Cisco Nexus 7000 M1-Series 32-Port 10Gb Ethernet Module

Features and Benefits

The Cisco Nexus 7000 M1-Series 32-Port 10Gb Ethernet Module with 80 Gbps of bandwidth to the fabric is a high-performance, high-density 10 Gigabit Ethernet module designed for mission-critical Ethernet networks. Up to 512 ports of 10 Gigabit Ethernet are supported in a single system in the Cisco Nexus 7000 18-Slot Switch chassis, providing a high-density, compact solution for the largest 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks.

Populating the Cisco Nexus 7000 10-Slot Switch chassis with this module delivers up to 256 ports of 10 Gigabit Ethernet in a single chassis, or up to 512 ports of 10 Gigabit Ethernet in a single rack. These configurations are ideal for the core layer or the aggregation layer of a data center network, in which density, performance, and continuous system operation are critical. This module can also be used as a 10 Gigabit Ethernet uplink when employing a Cisco Nexus 7000 M1-Series 48-port 10/100/1000 module for the access layer. The physical interfaces on the Cisco Nexus 7000 M1-Series 32-Port 10Gb Ethernet Module support SFP+ optics to meet the needs of a variety of distances and types of fiber cable.

All Cisco Nexus 7000 Series I/O modules contain an integrated forwarding engine. This architecture scales the forwarding performance of the chassis linearly by the number of I/O modules employed. The forwarding engine on the Cisco Nexus 7000 M1-Series 32-Port 10Gb Ethernet Module is part of the Cisco Nexus 7000 M-Series forwarding engines. Because this is the first generation of the Cisco Nexus M-Series, the engine is referred to as the M1 forwarding engine.

The M1 forwarding engine delivers 60 million packets per second (Mpps) of Layer 2 and 3 IPv4 unicast forwarding or 30 Mpps of IPv6 unicast forwarding across all ports on a single I/O module. An 18-slot chassis with 16 M1 I/O modules delivers up to 960 Mpps of IPv4 unicast forwarding. Multicast forwarding is built into the I/O module that performs egress replication. The M1 forwarding engine also delivers access control list (ACL) filtering, marking, rate limiting, and NetFlow with no degradation of performance. Powerful ACL processing supports up to 64,000 entries per module, where entries can address Layer 2, 3, and 4 fields in addition to new Cisco metadata fields that employ security group tags (SGTs).

The fabric interface on the Cisco Nexus 7000 M1-Series 32-Port 10Gb Ethernet Module delivers 80 Gbps of bandwidth in each direction. Traffic destined for a different module is distributed across up to five fabric modules. At least two fabric modules are required in the chassis to achieve the full 80 Gbps of bandwidth. Although this configuration offers fault tolerance, if one of the fabric modules fails, loss of bandwidth will occur. With three fabric modules installed in the chassis, one of the fabric modules can fail with no loss of bandwidth.

The 32-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet I/O module buffers data in virtual output queues (VOQs) before the data flows to the fabric. The data flow is controlled by a central arbiter on the supervisor module using a credit-based buffer design. This architecture offers a lossless fabric that delivers quality of service (QoS) and fairness across all ports, even during congestion.

The Cisco Nexus 7000 M1-Series 32-Port 10Gb Ethernet Module can deliver 8 ports at line rate or allow up to 32 ports to share 80 Gbps of bandwidth. The 32 ports are organized into eight groups of 4 ports. In dedicated mode, the first port in each group is active, delivering line-rate performance, and the other 3 ports are disabled. In shared mode, all 4 ports in the group are active. The software allows each group to be individually configured for dedicated mode or shared mode. Up to 64 and 128 ports of line-rate 10 Gigabit Ethernet are supported on the Cisco Nexus 7000 10-Slot and 18-Slot Switches respectively. Table 1 summarizes the features and benefits of the Cisco Nexus 7000 M1-Series 32-Port 10Gb Ethernet Module.

Table 1.Features and Benefits*

Feature

Benefit

High-density 10 Gigabit Ethernet module

Offers up to 256 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports in the 10-slot chassis and 512 ports in the 18-slot chassis for efficient and scalable network designs

M1-based line cards with a comprehensive feature set support MPLS in the hardware

Integrated hardware support for

Cisco TrustSec technology

Simplifies and scales access control by using SGTs and SGACLs and delivers data confidentiality and data integrity on all 32 ports using the IEEE 802.1AE standard

Online insertion and removal (OIR)

Supports hot insertion and removal for continuous system operation

Identification (ID) LED

Through the beacon feature, allows administrators to clearly identify the module for a service condition;

ports on the I/O module can send beacons as well

*Initial software releases may support a subset of the overall hardware capabilities. Refer to the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series NX-OS release notes for up-to-date software version information and feature support details.

Table 3 summarizes the interfaces, cabling specifications, and distances of SFP+ optics supported by the Cisco Nexus 7000 M1-Series 32-Port 10 Gigabit Ethernet Module. Not all optics are supported in the first software release. Refer to the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series NX-OS Release Notes for up-to-date software version information and optics support details.

Cisco offers a wide range of services to help accelerate your success in deploying and optimizing Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches in your data center. Our innovative services are delivered through a unique combination of people, processes, tools, and partners and are focused on helping you increase operational efficiency and improve your data center network. Cisco Advanced Services uses an architecture-led approach to help you align your data center infrastructure with your business goals and provide long-term value. Cisco SMARTnet® Service helps you resolve mission-critical problems with direct access at any time to Cisco network experts and award-winning resources. With this service, you can take advantage of the Cisco Smart Call Home service capability, which offers proactive diagnostics and real-time alerts on your Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switches. Spanning the entire network lifecycle, Cisco Services help maximize investment protection, optimize network operations, provide migration support, and strengthen your IT expertise. For more information about Cisco Data Center Services, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/dcservices.